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Friday, January 12, 2018 (LaPosa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

It was a beautiful morning as we got ready for a day out on the quads. Just before 10:00 everyone started congregating at our place...there would be 2 side-by-sides (Jim/Cec and Roger/Cindi) and 4 quads (Gerry, Bert, Steve and I).

With Steve in the lead and me bringing up the rear as "tail-gunner", we headed west out of LaPosa South, across hwy 95 and through LaPosa Tyson Wash. Our first stop was at French Creek and an old mine dig..

Then across Tyson Wash and up the hill...

The hill across the wash is where the mine is located...

Once everyone made it up we walked part way back down...

...to view the Indian grinding mortars...

Later on was the big hill climb as we head towards Deere Run...my front tire is off the ground!

We pulled over to let a huge group of around 12 pass, consisting of trail bikes, SxS's , and a jeep...

Remnants of an old pickup...

Arriving at Deere Run "Resort"...

Lunchtime...

Roger and Cindi playing Ladder Ball...

Steve set up his small tripod and we got a group picture. Left to right...Steve, Jim, Roger, Cindi, Gerry, Bert, me and Cec...

As we continued on the trail, we came to a spot with a steep gully that we had to get through. The first two had no problem...
Unfortunately, we had a mishap where a quad went over backwards...something we don't like to see, or have happen on any ride. The accident was captured on Steve's GoPro and is scary to watch. He took these snapshots from it. We chose not to show the riders face in these shots...but do want to say that he is fine but a little sore. He was having a hard time getting up the rocky incline, so Steve told him to stand up and lean forward over the handle bars. Unfortunately part way up he stopped, and fell back down in his seat changing the center of gravity and over he went...

He is very lucky that he didn't split his head open as he hit the rocks.

Our intentions for showing these photos is not to embarrass anyone but to point out the importance in wearing a helmet. It seems to be a rarity here, as many riders obviously feel nothing will ever happen to them. This put a scare into everyone else that still had to make the crossing but everyone made it without incident. I had Steve ride mine across though.

For years an abandoned Class C motorhome sat here, a little more stripped of parts each year, but this was ridiculous!

At Dome Rock we crossed under I-10 as we continued our ride heading north to Diablo Pass...

The top of Diablo Pass...

We find quite a few memorials on our rides...

Looking back down the valley we just came up...

Rest break is over...

Our destination is on the other side of those mountains...

The trail continues around that hill and to the right...

Dome Basin Mine on the left...

Mine shaft on the right...

I'm still way down the valley bringing up the rear on the far right...

Time to head home...

We caught up to another couple out on their own...not a good idea if you have a breakdown or something worse...

They eventually let us pass...

This part of the trail for the next few miles is some of our most favourite...

We met these folks at Diablo Pass earlier...

Time for another rest stop...

The trail continues up and over the hill ahead...

The trail now continues down a steep ravine and back up on the right...

Down we go...

And up...

...and up...

...and almost to the top...

Looking back to make sure everyone has made it safely...

We're all at the top, time for the home stretch...

Last stop before...

...some of us make a pit stop at Beer Belly's Adult Daycare to wash the dust down. With Cec and Jim, Cindi and Roger

Banff

About Us

We married in 1982 and our sons, Rob and Chris were born in 1983 and 1985. In 1990 we built our dream home in North Saanich just north of Victoria BC on 1.21 acres. We both had long careers, Dianne in Human Resources and Steve as Branch Manager for a controls systems wholesaler.
Steve always felt that there were no guarantees in life as far as health and mortality went, so we planned to retire early and RV full-time.
In late 2009 we began the build process on our custom Toy Hauler truck, taking delivery in early 2010. We moved into our new Montana 5th wheel in Feb 2010, living in it for 4 months while still working. In May 2010 we purchased 2 Yamaha Grizzly 550 ATVs. We're ready!
Just shy of our 55th birthdays, on June 25, 2010 we retired and started our life as gypsies.
We prefer dry camping (boondocking), getting as far away from civilization as possible. However, our size limits us from getting into all of those remote areas. Good thing we have the ATVs to explore with.